Each year students in the International Master in Tourism and Hospitality Management participate in the unique Marketing Challenge. This challenge is a great way for students to apply the marketing concepts they have learned to a real consulting project.
This year the participants worked with Nobu Hotel Barcelona. Nobu is a luxury, 5-star hotel located directly next to the popular train station Barcelona-Sants. The challenge was relaunching the Nobu Hotel Barcelona lobby bar – Kozara – with a new and healthier menu. The challenge’s objective was to drive footfall from the hotel guests throughout the day and establish Kozara as a premium option for train commuters.
The hotel offers 259 sleek and spacious accommodations, an elegant spa and gym, and thoughtfully tailored meeting and event spaces. Along with Kozara, the hotel has an upscale restaurant on the 23rd floor named “Nobu” and a rooftop bar.
The challenge was presented to the students by EADA professor Rosemary Trigg. The challenge started when the students visited Nobu Hotel Barcelona. After that, the students dove into analyzing the lobby restaurant, Kozara, and how they could revamp it to attract more customers.
"The main benefits for our participants include gaining an insight into the day-to-day challenges of working in a marketing role, critical thinking skills, and teamwork together with an understanding of the practical application of the knowledge they have acquired."
Rosemary Trigg EADA marketing professor
This challenge aims to provide students with the opportunity to work on a real-life marketing challenge with a local business. While applying the theoretical knowledge they’ve learned in class to work as consultants for the hotel company. Through this, they learn to appreciate the context, operational issues, budget, and other constraints that must be considered in a company.
For the next few weeks, 4 teams of 4 students each used their marketing knowledge to prepare a solution to the challenge offered by Nobu Hotel. Their marketing plans included the following strategies that were taught in class.
- SWOT
- Segmentation
- Targeting
- Positioning
- 7P’s in the Marketing Mix
The students were tasked to attract footfall from the hotel and make Kozara a popular option for train commuters. This was not an easy task with a limited budget and two other food and beverage options already in the hotel. The students had to use research and their marketing knowledge to differentiate the lobby bar and attract customers.
The team that ended up being most successful in this challenge were Alexandra (Romania), Jessica (USA), Mahmoud (Tunisia), and Felipe (Spain). They talked about the importance of being creative and thorough in their research.
“It’s important to get creative with a limited budget. Primary research on your target market is just as important as secondary.” – Jessica (USA)
The challenge wasn’t all smooth sailing for the winning team. The proposed challenge caused the team problems when competing for footfall within the hotel.
“It was difficult to figure out how to compete for footfall since NOBU already has a well-known restaurant and rooftop bar. We came up with an idea to differentiate the lobby bar from the rest of NOBU offerings and market it as a unique place to spend time” – Winning team in the challenge
Nobu Hotel Barcelona also gained valuable insights from this challenge. When asked how the experience was working with EADA students from the Tourism and Hospitality Management masters program they wrote:
“Collaborating with the EADA Tourism and Hospitality Masters Marketing Challenge has been extremely rewarding not only on a business level by seeing how the students took on the challenge and gave us fresh, innovative strategies, but also to form connections with the next generation of hospitality professionals.”
Overall this was a beneficial experience for the students and Nobu Hotel Barcelona. The students applied what they had learned in class to a real-world challenge, while the hotel acquired new ideas to promote its lobby bar Kozara. Both sides gained connections in the hotel industry and learned from one another.